News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-02-10
THE OLD SETTLER.
HE TALKS ABOUT POLITENEsS.
He Gives an Instance Where 1t Made a
Man suffer.

| IEun SuHeEs
| ''W 'en our folks lived back in the Su
| gar Swamp deestric' long fore any o
| you boys was born, tn was family
lived nigh to us by the name of Grubbs
| Ye mowt think from their name th'
they never had come from nowhar, bu
| had jist sprung right up outen thu
| groun' O. Sugar Swamp, nat'ral like
same as chestnut saplin's ; but thar We c
be wrong. Them Grubbses they came
from Jobstown, New Jersey, an wa.
| consid able some punkins' They fetched
| with EN- hifalutin idees o doin' things
an tried to make 'em grow in our dees
| trio, but tho siletO sugar swamp wa ni
quite rich enough fer 'em to get good
start in, an they wilted an quit sproutG
fore long, sam az 'arly t'mater plants
mowt, if they was sot out in a gravel
bed. But they was awful p lite folks,
specially young Ben Grubbs. I've
heerd say that Ben was so durn p'lite
th't wunst he were standin' by the barn
door as a flock O. geese was passin in
through Ez a gosse d go in it d duck
its head, ez ye know geese allus will, an
off d come Ben's OIL straw hat, and he'd
bow like a dancin' master. An thar he
stood b'gosh, an bowed ev'ry one O.
them geese inter the barn, he were so
p'lite.
Wall, too or three year arter the
Grubbses begun to till the sile in Su-
gar Swamp dees+ric' tn were a nice,
slick lookin' stranger found his way in
thar one fall. He were lookin' fer a
lumber truck th't lay off some'rs in the
woods, he said. He happened to strike
the Gruhbs plantation, an told his er-
rend in thet neighborhood. Ben Grubbs
were list p'lite enough to knock off
plowin' fer rye, an to hitch up his hoss
an lug the stranger round the deestric'
till they foun' the tract he were lookin'
fer. Wen they got back hum the slick
stranger tor Ben th't he'd heerd O. lots
an gcbs O. things th't had s'prised him,
but th't seCh p'liteness as Ben's, way
out mongst the bars an the bushwack
ers, were sumpin' th't had knocked him
so fur outen his bearin's th't he couldn't t
tell which way he were p'inted.
A feller never losses nOthin' by bein
p'lite. said Ben, GRIMM like a chessy
cat, he were so bang-up tickled.
"The upshot o. the strangers visit an
O. Ben's p'liteness were th't Ben greed
to hunt up the owner o. the lumber
tract, buy it ez the strangers agent, an
hold it fer him till he got back, w'ic h
were to be in two or three weeks. He
come back, but Ben hadn't got the tract
yit, the owner bein' stubborn. But it
were bar huntin' time, an the stranger
said he'd like to go ont an hunt bar
Ben rugged him up, an him an Ben
went out to kill bar. Durin' the day
Ben, who were joggin' along at the foot
of ridge, come plumb onter big bar,
settin' on log, lookin' sassy, an wiIlin'
fer fight. Ben could ha' popped him
full O. lead, an settled the futur' right
then an thar, but that wouldn't ha' ben
plite ye see, ez the stranger We're his
guest, an 50, o ,e0ur5e, must kev the
rst shot at the bar. The stranger ]
blieve his name were Struble-were
sloshin' 'roun' in the brush at the top O.
ridge. Ben hollered to HIM to come
down, an he did. He DIDN'T see the
bar till he got 'longside O. en-.
'Arter your says Ben to Struble,
takin off his hat and bowin', an p'intin'
TO the bar.
"'Ee-y-o-o 90 o." yelled Struble,
ez he see the b'a, an droppin' his gun
skinned away from thar an up that
scrub oak ridge like a clap-bo rd in a
gale. Ben looked arter him in s'prise,
an the bar gittin' his mad up at se2h
monkey shines, gives two jumps. an
without waitin' to ak Ben's pardon,
buckled inter him from the word go,
and wen Sam Slifty, the woodchopper,
who wa'n't.fur away an heard the rum
pu' IN the brush, got to the spot an
ended the rassel with his ak on bruins
conk, ben could ha' gone in sw mmin'
without victim many clothes. He
looked like hummade door mat, Sam
said. 1t were a week fore Ben got
around, but he were just ez p'lite ez
ever.
'In his p'liteness Ben had introduced
Struble to Betsey Greenleaf, q nifty
piece O. backwoods hum spun th't Ben
were gointer set down IN new house he
were buildin' on place O. his own the
comm spring. and he were too p'llte to
notice that the slick stranger were paw
in consid able 'tention to Betsey. ANY
how, week or so arter Ben got well O.
his plite spell at the bar hunt he got
on the right side O. the owner o. the
lumber tract, an he bought it, payin'
five hunderd dollars outen his own poe
ket, being too p'lte to bother Struble
till all the business were fixed and the
deed made out IN the strangers name
Strubie havin' paid him $25 on the bar
gain. Before he could fix things up
with Struble, what should happen but
th't rough an'-ready lookin,' full-o-
business, up-an'- around sorter man
come ridin' hoseback up to Grubbs's
He wanted to see the man that'd jist
bought the Grindle lumber tract.
& 4 want that tractp he hollored,
wen Ben come out. Must hev itp he
says. I'll give ye thousan' dollers fer
it" he says, an here's twenty-five to
bind the bargain
ben were p'lite, but here was
chance to make IS 0. He was too p'Iite,
though, to do it without seein' Struble
so he told the rough an'-ready stranger
he'd hef to wait till he could think it
over. The stranger said all right. He'd
be back mex day, he said, an he ave
Ben $25 to show th't he meant business.
Ben found Struble an tol' him wat had
turned up.
"'Well, said Struble, 'of course it's
my tract o. lam, but | don't want to
STAN in the way O. you a maxim sumpin'.
Gimme two hunderd an fifty dollars,
an you take the lam an make t'other
two hunderd an fifty
THAT was fair, Ben said, an he
plunks the little two hunderd an fifty
in cash right in Struble's hand. The
next day come an went ag1n, but the
rough an ready stranger wat wanted
the lam so bad, an mus hev it, didn't
draw nigh to Sugar Swamp Struble
didn't happen to drop in on p'lite Ben
Grubbs that day, nor evenin', nuther.
Mex mornin' Sim GTeenleaf popped in
ruther suddent like on the Grubbses.
an wanted to know whar in bIazes his
darter Betscy were! Wall, all tn were
to it were hit Betsey an Struble had
run away an got married an it were
whispered round arterw'ds tht the
rough-an' ready stranger an Struble
was seen together fer few minutes,
over TO the red Clearin'. the day OF
rough anil ready orter showed up with
his thou an dollars fer the lumber tract
tht he were anxious fer to pit. Ez
fer Ben, he had his p'hteness an the
lumber tract left. The lumber tract
want wuth fifty dollars, an ez fer the
p'liteness wall, don't want to 90 too
fur in speaking of p'liteness, but if /
were landlord ez had let my p'liteness
take shingle often my roof on account
of a stranger, I'm burned if I'd let nv
friends and neighbors suffer fer it, if l
had to strip the roof clean to the
Taftersp ED. Mort.